Riders Before The Pact
by cty-lover
Summary: A world has been threatened by an evil king. Only one hope remains, but it lies outside the realms of reality. Eragon/LBT Cross-over. I DON'T OWN LAND BEFORE TIME OR ANY ERAGON THINGS. I've given in. Chapter 15 is up. Please R&R.
1. Birth of A New Chance

Author's Note: If you like the Inheritance Cycle, please visit my forum. Go to and look for Alagaesia At Peace under Art & Literature. Organize alphabetically for an easier time.

Prologue: Birth of A New Chance

Night permeated the forest with its ethereal tendrils. The lights of Ellesmera shielded the city from darkness. The air was peaceful, belying the drama unfolding inside the city. Argana was curled up in her hollow, but she was tense. Something pained her, but what the pain was was an enigma. She was a dragon of massive proportions, with silver scales that seemed to mirror her surroundings. Beside her was a large tree with a door at the base of the trunk.

Vylon entered the hollow through the door. He looked joyous, as though his dearest wish had come true. He was an elf, with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair that fell down to the bottom of his pointed ears. He was tall, thin, and moved with grace that ran strong in his blood. When he spoke, his voice sounded musical, as though he could have broken into song at any second.

"How much longer?" he asked Argana, his voice perfectly controlled to show no emotion.

"Not much longer. I hope that the new Riders will be strong enough to defeat the king if Eragon fails." Her mouth had not opened at all, and only Vylon could hear her in his mind.

"They will have to be. Should we inform Queen Islanzadi and Ajihad of this?

"It is necessary. However, you should plan on what to do with them before they are informed. It would be unwise to have these put in a position where they are able to be stolen."

"Agreed. I doubt that the Riders of these dragons are either of the Varden or the elves."

Argana pondered this statement. It seemed very unlikely that she would ever understand Vylon's logic. Suddenly, she tensed. Spasms rocked her body, and Vylon decided to leave her alone for a while. As he left, he said to her, "I shall be at the library. There is something I need to check."

"It is over. The eggs are laid," said Argana to Vylon.

Vylon had been checking up on ancient spells and sources of magic. His idea was confirmed. It was possible. Now all he had to do was find a way.

"I'll be there in a minute. I just need to check one more thing." He hurried to put the scrolls back up on the shelves. He was in one of the older sections of the library. Then he walked to a shelf near the door. He was looking for one scroll in particular. It was on a simple spell, but Vylon knew that it held the answer to his most pondered question. How could he find the Riders destined for these eggs?

As he checked the scroll on scrying, he noticed that there was a special section for scrying objects in the past. It had mentioned that there was only one requirement for scrying the past; an item that was linked to the target at one point. This was it, though Vylon. This is what I need!

As he rushed to Argana, he stopped at Rhünon's forge. He would need tools for forging swords, and Rhünon had exactly what he needed.

Argana was still in her hollow when Vylon returned, carrying a bundle that seemed rather heavy for its size.

"What do you need that for?" asked Argana.

"We need to leave for Beirland as soon as possible." Vylon seemed overjoyed by something.

"What about the eggs? They need to be enchanted before they become immune."

"I'll get right on that. I will tell you why after I am done."

Thus began the long process of enchanting the eggs. When Vylon was done, he was worn out. He knew he would need to rest before they could depart for Beirland. Before he left, however, he would inform Argana of his discovery.

"Firstly, I have found a way of finding the Riders through the annals of time. In the scroll on scrying, it states clearly that the only requirement is an item linked with the target. The eggs are linked to their destined Riders, so now we just have to reach the Riders-to-be. Which I think I have figured out how to do as well. I noticed in the older section of the library that there exists a spell for moving through time, but the only way that it was possible is to find a huge source of magic. The problem is that there are only three places that we can go. The bogs of Aroughs, Mani's Cave in the Beor Mountains, and Eoam.

"I have absolutely no idea where Mani's Cave is, and Aroughs is in the Empire. So we have to travel to Eoam. Once there, I can use the magic of the Floating Crystal to transport you and me through time. I think I should have some method of returning before we actually go through time. I have found a spell to increase the limit of the spell's reach, so that you and I can go back. But we must leave soon. I will right a message to Islanzadi informing her about our plan. In the meantime, I want to have a look at those who _I_ will be training personally."

--

Littlefoot was sleeping. He had had a hard day. The trek to Saurus Rock had tired him greatly. "At least I have something to look forward to tomorrow," he thought to himself, remembering that tomorrow was the day. "I finally get to see my dad again."

They had heard that Littlefoot's father's herd was arriving from a Fast Runner that arrived the previous morning. Littlefoot was excited as ever. He wanted to see if he could see his dad from Saurus Rock, so he took the day to travel to the towering rock structure. His trip was in vain, though, because the herd was still unseen.

As Littlefoot fell asleep, he began to feel a curiosity enter his mind, even though nothing was new around him. When Littlefoot finally fell asleep, the usual sleep stories danced around inside his head. Then, just before he awoke, a new image came in front of the usual pictures. This one was as clear as day, and depicted a giant flying creature, of which he did not know, with a different creature on its back. The smaller creature seemed to look directly at Littlefoot, smiled and said, "Sleep well. I shall see you in the future." What did the creature mean? Who was he? Was he even real?


	2. Preparation

Chapter One: Preparation

Argana flew into the hollow late next morning. Vylon was waiting for her.

"Do you have what I asked for, Argana?" said Vylon. "It will be necessary for our journey."

"I have exactly what you asked for. Six diamonds, along with the tools necessary to shape them. Why do you need them?" asked Argana.

"They are part of a puzzle for my pupils. They must be shaped in the correct way it to work."

Then Vylon entered the tree. When he returned, there was an ornate leather saddle in his hands. On it was a depiction of a vine that snaked all around the saddle.

"Why not the other saddle? We will need speed, not comfort." Commented Argana after seeing the saddle.

"I can't find the other saddle. Anyways, we need this saddle because of its compartments." Replied Vylon.

After this, Vylon began packing the saddle in silence. There was something about the elf that wasn't quite right. He was hiding something, and she was going to find out what.

"Who are the pupils? I feel that I should know who they are as well." Said Argana.

Vylon kept quiet. He knew better than to, but something was holding his tongue. It seemed as though he was withholding a terrible truth that would devastate Argana if she knew.

"What is the matter? Did you find them or not? Or are they unfit in your eyes for you to teach?" asked Argana mockingly.

"Give me a minute. I shall show you." Said Vylon after a long pause.

Vylon entered the tree. When he returned, he was holding the eggs and a bowl of water. He set the bowl on the ground in front of Argana. He then picked up one of the eggs. The next words had an ethereal tone to them. They were, "Draumr kopa." The surface turned black, and then an image appeared on the water.

On it was that of a creature with an elongated neck, like that of a dragon. The creature had red eyes, and the body was mainly tan, but with a dark brown line going down its back. Vylon let the image disappear, then grabbed a different egg. He spoke the words again, and this time a orange-yellow creature appeared on it. It had a single white horn at the tip of its snout, and a crown at the top of its head. Vylon again picked up a different egg, and this time, a light green creature appeared. It stood on two legs, unlike the other two, which stood on four legs. The head had a duck bill on it, and had a dark green line running down its back. The fourth creature had leathery wings, a beak, and was brown. It seemed very small relative to the four-legged creatures, but similar to the other two-legged creature in size. The fifth creature was green, and seemed to have a small set of plates protruding from its back. The end of the tail had a very small set of spikes.

Argana looked in disbelief. She could not contain her emotions.

"They aren't even human! How can they be destined to be Dragon Riders if they are not in the pact!" she exclaimed with anger.

"It seems as though I made a mistake, but I didn't. I found a way around this problem, as well. There is a certain spell that allows one to change their outer appearance. They can become elves on the outside, and tat is all I need for them to fit the spell's requirements," replied Vylon calmingly. "They seem to know each other very well, which will make our job much easier. I will not have to get them to meet, and then get them to work as one unit."

"I want to know who they are as people. Let us hear what they are saying." Said Argana.

"As you wish." Said Vylon. He picked up all five of the eggs. He then intoned the words to hear what was being scried.

--

Cera was sitting down. Her legs were tired from running around all day.

"Why must we keep running? Why not just sit down and talk?" she asked in a tired voice.

The rest of the gang decided that they should rest. They had been running to the valley's mouth to meet Littlefoot's dad. They had been running since dawn.

They sat in silence. The only sound was their panting. When Ducky had caught her breath, she said, "I know. Let us talk about our sleep stories!"

"I had this really weird one last night. There was this tall thing on the back of a long neck with wings. The tall thing said, 'Sleep well. I shall see you in the future.' " Said Cera.

"I had the exact same one!" exclaimed Littlefoot.

"I did too!" said Ducky.

"Me have same sleep story!" said Petrie excitedly.

"What about you Spike? Did you have that sleep story?" asked Littlefoot. Spike nodded.

"I wonder who that thing was? Was it even real?" asked Littlefoot.

"Don't ask us," responded Cera. "We are just as confused as you are!"

"Can we get back to running? We will have to be home before bedtime!" exclaimed Littlefoot.

"Oh, all right. But if the herd is not there we are heading home." Said Cera.

The group continued running to the valley entrance. None of them suspected that they were being watched.


	3. Departure

Chapter Two: Departure

"We must leave today, Argana." Said Vylon impatiently.

"Why? We still must finish packing." She replied.

"I am already packed. I moved the steel into the saddle last night. The tools are also ready. I even prepared gems for the trip." Vylon retorted flatly. He picked up the saddle, which, by the way he handled it, seemed rather heavy. He strapped it around Argana's neck, around the area where her spikes formed a gap at is base.

"What about the queen? She must be informed." Argana commented.

"I took care of that last night as well. She believes it is for the best. By the way, I also took out the scrolls that we will need and copied their contents. We will need the spells." Vylon commented as he climbed up onto the saddle.

"I wonder how Ajihad will handle the news of our departure." Argana said. She spread her massive wings, which were many times her body length. She thrust the massive wings down, and she took off. She quickly ascended above the trees. With each beat of her wings, the trees seemed to sway. She then angled herself south, and towards the Hadarac Desert.

"Now we take flight. Our destination, Beirland!" exclaimed Vylon with excitement. Argana shared his excitement, and began moving towards the edge of the forest. The trees seemed to rush past as she flew. Her speed was incredible. Within two hours, they were nearing the edge of the forest. At the edge, they saw the desert. It seemed to fuse with the sky when the dragon reached the edge of the desert. Instead of flying straight through the desert, they angled west, towards the western edge of the vast desert. It would be suicide to fly through the desert. They would stay near the edge, where the weather is more bearable.

The hours slowly melded into days as Argana and Vylon crossed leagues upon leagues towards the Beor Mountains. The behemoths came in view very soon, and when the foothills of the mountains were reached, they angled west towards Surda. They crossed Surda without any alarm. They landed at the first town they encountered and told them to send messengers to other towns in Argana's path not to panic when Argana passes over. They gave the messengers a week before they took off again, in order to make sure that the messages reached the towns ahead.

They reached the sea in three days, after resting at Aberon, Surda's capital. King Orrin was very generous, and gave Vylon and Argana the supplies that they needed in order to make it to Beirland without much discomfort. When they landed, the people in the town of Eoam began to panic, as though the king had come to obliterate the island. When the villagers were calmed, Vylon advanced to the cave where the Floating Crystals rested. As he entered the cave, he sensed magic that was far stronger than his.

Argana entered the cave soon afterward. Vylon rushed over to her and he took out the five eggs, a thick scroll, and a set of candles. He aligned the candles to form a pentagon around Argana and himself, then he lit the candle simultaneously with magic. He then opened the scroll, and began reading the spell. It was a long and complicated spell, and it took an hour to recite the entire spell. Vylon had then reached for the crystal's magic while simultaneously pulling another into the pentagon. As the crystal entered the pentagon, the flames from each candle then shot above the pentagon and collided right above the center of the pentagon. Then the flame descended onto the entire group, without burning anything. As the final flames went out, Vylon and Argana began feeling a weird sensation, as though they were being pulled through solid rock that had suddenly become liquid.

The sensation lasted for a long time, and then, when it stopped, they found themselves with one of the crystals standing on a large stone tower that overlooked the entrance to a large valley.

"We are here. We shall now have to plan on how to introduce ourselves." Vylon said, with a wicked grin on his face and a brilliant idea going through his mind.


	4. The Five Tasks

Chapter 3: The Five Tasks

Littlefoot was climbing the last mound in his path. He was so excited.

"Hurry up! Can't you climb faster?" he called down to his friends, all of whom were still at the bottom of the mound.

"We're climbing as fast as we can! Don't rush us!" Cera replied.

Littlefoot, however, did not hear her. At that moment, he turned his head to an explosion, but saw nothing out of place. It was as though the sound had occurred from nothing. He then looked at the valley entrance, and saw with disappointment that his father was not there. They had come all the way to the edge of the valley for absolutely no reason.

With a depressed air around him, Littlefoot began climbing down the mound. He told Cera, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike that the herd wasn't here. They then began running back to the main center of the valley with haste to get there before nightfall. If they were not back by then, they would be in a huge amount of trouble.

As they were running back, Littlefoot began thinking about that loud noise that he had heard back at the entrance. "What could it be?" he thought to himself.

After a while, Cera cried out, "We must rest. We can't run straight back without a break."

"Agreed. Let's stop here and catch our breath." Littlefoot replied.

Another explosion sounded, only this time, it was only five feet away from the group. They panicked, and ran into the trees, fearing for their lives. After a few minutes, they slowly emerged from the trees to examine the blast area.

In the center of the explosion was a ring of grass that was flattened in a circular fashion. At the center of the flattened glass were five polished stones. They were purple, orange, yellow, pink, and white. On all but the white stone, there were thin veins of white.

"What are these stones?" the group thought to themselves.

As the five approached the stones, they began to feel a sense of foreboding. Suddenly, a voice rang from the five stones. The voice was male, powerful, wise, and musical.

"Do not lose these stones. I have a task for each of you. When all five of you have completed your task, I shall reveal myself.

"The task is for each of you to find a stone. This stone looks like this," and an image of a stone, with the shape that seemed to be the point of a pentagram.

"There are five of these stones scattered around this valley. Each one is in a different location. I will personally inform you where your stone is.

"Littlefoot, your stone is located by the tree with a hollow at the base. Cera, your stone is located by the Thundering Falls. Ducky, your stone is located by the Sheltering Grass. Petrie, your stone is located by the Smoking Mountain. Spike, your stone is located by the bubbling goo."

The voice stopped speaking. The stones started to vibrate. With a shrug, Ducky and Petrie helped everyone grab a stone. When they picked up the first stone, they noticed the picture of a threehorn. They found similar pictures on each of the stones.

"Why is this happening?" they asked themselves as they walked home, with the stones on their backs.

--

"Now what do we do?" Argana asked.

"We wait. Hopefully, they will find the crystals fairly easy. We must prepare our sanctuary where they will find us. I will design the lock. They will soon have the key." Vylon replied.


	5. The Waterfall

Chapter 4: The Waterfall

"The voice said the Thundering Falls, but I don't know where to look." Cera thought to herself as she searched the area around the waterfall. She had insisted to find it herself, but it soon became apparent to her that she would need her friends' help to accomplish this task. Her pride, however, would not let her ask for help.

"If I can't do it, then," she thought to herself, but she just couldn't seem to finish the sentence. She began thinking of what would happen if she couldn't succeed by herself. Suddenly, she noticed something up on a ledge about halfway up the falls. She couldn't see exactly what it was, but she though she had found what she was looking for.

"How do I get it down? I can't climb this." She immediately began trying to knock it down by charging at the stone, but all she succeeded in getting was a headache.

"Petrie could probably get it, but I won't ask them for help." She said to herself. A few minutes later, however, she concluded that there was no alternative but to ask for help.

"Me see it! It that stone." Petrie called down to Cera.

"Can you bring it down to me?" Cera called back. Petrie tried to pick up the stone, but as he touched it, a bolt of energy shot through him. He lost consciousness, and he plummeted down towards the ground. Cera hurried to catch him. He landed on her back, still unconscious.

"What happen? Me try to pick up stone, next thing me know, me on your back." Petrie said as he regained consciousness.

"I don't know. Do you have any ideas on how to get up there?" Cera asked.

"Well, me see a path to get there, but you must leave Great Valley to get to it." Petrie replied.

"Great. I think I'll go take it." Cera said as she began running to an alternate valley entrance than the one the gang visited the previous day.

She found the exit without difficulty, and she found herself overlooking a valley of rocks. She noticed that there was a crater on one of the boulders, but she didn't care. She had to ask Petrie where she could get to the ledge, and she was soon looking back at the Great Valley. She began scanning the outcrop for the stone. She began to force it out of the rock, and with a loud crack, the stone came loose and flew into the air. It landed right in front of Cera. She picked up the stone, and carried it in front of her horn. As she was walking into the valley, she noticed that her stone, which was originally clear, became pink in color. The shade exactly matched the stone that she brought home the previous day.

"Why did it turn pink?" she asked herself as she returned home. When she arrived, she began thinking that something was wrong. She immediately realized that Petrie was still on her back.

"Petrie, wake up!" she shouted to wake the flyer.

"What happen? Why you shout?" he asked, suddenly alert.

"Shouldn't you be getting home now?" Cera responded.

"Oh, right. Me just fly back." Petrie responded. He proceeded to spread his wings and flew in the direction of his nest.

When Cera returned her attention to the nest, she suddenly realized what was wrong the entire time.

"That stone is gone!"

--

Vylon was holding the pink stone in his arms. He was in a cave with Argana. He then heard a faint squeaking as the stone began to rock.

"One of the five parts has been found." Argana told Vylon.

"I hope that the others are found soon as well." He replied.


	6. Spike's Mirror

Chapter 5: Spike's Mirror

Vylon was with Argana in their cave. All of the five stones were before them. Only the pink one was squeaking.

"How long do you think it will take them to find the crystals?" Vylon asked Argana.

"You should know all of the answers, Vylon. One of them has been found already, but I assume that the others are finding their respective crystals soon.

--

Spike walked slowly towards the bubbling goo. There was an air of determination around him. He didn't want to rush, but he wanted to find the crystal that the creature mentioned. Even though Spike knew what the stone looked like and its general location, it would take a while for him to find due to the crystal's small size and the large search area.

However, Spike had the confidence that he would find the stone. All he had to do was search hard for it and the rest would take care of itself.

It took half an hour, but Spike finally arrived at the bubbling goo. Since he didn't know where to start his search, he looked around for some food before he actually began searching.

After Spike's short snack, which actually wasn't that short considering the amount of food Spike ate, Spike began to walk around the pit of goo, searching for anything that would lead him to the stone. However, his efforts were fruitless, for no such sign was to be found. He tried to examine the pit from various angles on the side, to see if he could get any light into the crevices without getting in the goo itself.

During this, Spike began remembering something that Littlefoot told to Mr. Thicknose. It involved something shiny and how it could make dark places bright. Excited, Spike began searching for something shiny, but he could not find anything by the goo. He began searching the trees near the goo, but still no luck.

--

"It would seem as if one of the five has found a creative way of searching for the stone." Argana said, opening her eyes.

"He needs something to be like a mirror. Maybe I should show him where he could find one." Vylon said, and began scanning the Valley for a reflective surface. Once he found one, he projected the location into Spike's mind.

--

While Spike was searching, he was suddenly hit with a vision of a location near him. Seeing as though there was nothing shiny where Spike was, he decided to go to the tree grove nearby and see why he had thought of that place.

When Spike arrived there, he noticed nothing, so he just began eating again. When he went for the nearest leaves, he noticed a glint in the corner of his eye. He then searched for the source, and saw a mirror in the tree. Ecstatic with joy, he pulled the mirror out of the tree and ran as fast as he could manage towards the bubbling goo. He then began scanning the perimeter of the pit once more, this time brightening the darkened places with the mirror.

After what seemed like ages, Spike finally had the stone. He tried various attempts at just getting the stone out without getting in the goo, but it had to be done. He jumped into the goo and grabbed the stone, which turned from clear to purple, was in his mouth. He went to return the mirror.

he began wondering where Ducky was, and began to search for her. The creature said her stone would be by the Sheltering Grass, so he began heading towards there. Who knows, she might need his help.


	7. Ducky's Dilemma

Chapter 6: Ducky's Dilemma

"Where is Spike?" Ducky said as she got to the sinking sand, remembering Cera's attempt to cross it. She still remembered the angry looks on everyone's faces when they were saved. Momma's words echoed in her head, like they were said yesterday.

_You are not grown-ups and should remember it._

She wished that were still true, but she and Spike have grown since that incident and have learned better. Sort of. Ducky knew that there was a way to the Sheltering Grass that did not involve crossing the sinking sand. And could be done with her eyes closed. In fact, that is what she did. She got there and saw that Spike was already there, waiting for her.

"Spike! I am so glad a found you! Yep yep yep!" she exclaimed as she ran over to him. "Spike, can you help me find my stone? I won't be able to find it by myself. Nope nope nope." Spike nodded in response. With Spike, Ducky entered the Sheltering Grass, entering a whole new world in the process.

The grass was so tall that Ducky was barely able to see the grass in front of her due to the lack of light. However, there was enough light for her to navigate.

Spike got a much better bargain. He was not only able to see very well in the grass, but he could just eat his way if necessary. "Spike, we should split up and search for it. Grunt if you find it." Spike nodded, and the two went in different directions, searching for it.

Ducky began searching the ground for the stone, looking for any sign of a glittering light. At one spot, she found that the light was partially scattered, but she found no stone. After many minutes of searching around the area with scattered light, she discovered nothing special, so she moved on. It soon became apparent that she wouldn't find it by going by this method of searching. "I'll never find this stone with my height. Nope nope nope!" she exclaimed shortly after. She began searching for Spike at the edge of the grass when she saw Littlefoot walking past the Sheltering Grass.

_I know! Littlefoot can help me search for it!_

"Littlefoot!" Ducky exclaimed as she ran up to him. She proceeded to explain her dilemma.

"Sure. I'll help." Littlefoot replied. Ducky climbed onto Littlefoot's head. They proceeded to enter the Sheltering Grass together.

This time, Ducky had no problem seeing what was going on. She was above the ground, almost above the grass completely. She began looking around with Littlefoot being her guide. He took her through the grass again, but her search still proved fruitless. The two then left the Sheltering Grass.

As they were leaving, she recounted some of her thoughts as she was looking for the stone. She told Littlefoot about her nostalgia and what her mother told her, and then a thought struck her. Her mother's words reminded her of he area where the light was scattered. "Littlefoot, I'm going to go back into the grass one more time. Tell Spike that if you see him." She asked, and then she burst into the grass. She remembered the way to that one location.

When she arrived at the location, she immediately looked up instead of down. Up in the grass, above her, was the stone. She immediately began shaking the grass to make it fall, but she realized that it was _floating _instead of being supported. She realized that she had to climb the grass. She immediately began climbing the grass, and soon she reached the stone. She knocked it down to the ground, because she couldn't hold it and climb down. Instead of climbing, though, she decided to let go and hold onto the gem. The gem never hit the ground, though, instead hovering about a quarter of an inch above the ground.

Ducky was relieved to finally have her stone. She then exited the grass, noticing that her stone had turned the color yellow, to match the stone she had picked up previously. She told Littlefoot that she was going home, and bade him farewell and good luck on finding his stone. Upon returning to her nest, she saw Spike with a look of nervousness on his face. He kept looking at where the stones should have been, but instead of stones, there was nothing. Both of their stones have been stolen, leaving them only the recovered pieces.

--

"I believe that two more pieces of the key have been recovered." Argana said as the purple and yellow eggs began to rock and squeak like the pink egg.

"That is good. Hopefully, the five will find me soon. And then their training can begin in its fullest." Vylon said with delight in his voice. He still held the white and orange eggs close to him, as though they would vanish.


	8. The Hollow Tree

Chapter 7: The Hollow Tree

"The voice said 'tree with a hollow at the base' but I've checked pretty much all of those trees and still found nothing." Littlefoot exclaimed in exasperation at lunch. He decided to have lunch with his friends instead of with his grandparents. They understood that he would enjoy it better.

"Well, you know, you could search again. I could help you this time, though." Cera offered.

"No, I'll check once more by myself. If nothing happens, I'll ask you for help. Okay?" Littlefoot responded.

"Fine. But don't complain when I find it before you." Cera replied smugly.

Littlefoot just finished his lunch when he remembered about the stone. _I wonder if that will help me at all, _he thought to himself, _I'll go get it from the tree I hid it in._ Littlefoot began to run to exactly where he had hid the stone.

When he got there, he looked into the hollow to make sure the stone was there. It was. While taking the stone out of the hollow, he noticed that there was a faint, high-pitched whine coming from the hollow. _I bet that there was something in there, but it was probably just a bug._

Littlefoot then began to search through all of the trees yet again. He drew arrows in the ground at the base of each tree that point to where the previous tree was as he went the first time. The trip didn't take up much time, but it still was fruitless. Littlefoot decided that the stone wouldn't help at all, so he put it away. He then began searching for Cera, because he definitely needed help.

"Cera! Where are you? I need your help!" he called out when he got to her nest, but no response came. He suddenly remembered that her stone was at the Thundering Falls, so he went over there to talk to her. When he got there, he found no one.

"Where could she be? I checked her nest and her stone's location, but I can't find her anywhere!" he exclaimed in exhaustion. Suddenly, he saw someone in the corner of his eye. Someone orange. It was Cera.

"Cera! I've been looking for you everywhere! Where were you?" Littlefoot excitedly exclaimed.

"I've been looking for my stone. But never mind that now. I lost my other stone. The one that we got when we were given our instructions." She replied.

"Oh no! Mine might have been taken, too. Let me go check on Ducky and Spike." He replied, heading for their nest. When he got there, he saw both Ducky and Spike looking for their stones frantically.

"Hey Littlefoot, have you seen my stone? Both Spike and I lost ours." Ducky asked.

"No. Oddly enough, the same thing happened to Cera. When did you last see it?" Littlefoot replied.

"When I woke up. Why?"

"Well, both you and Cera kept yours at your respective nests. I put mine in a hollow tree. Wait a second, that's it! That is where my stone is! Gotta go!" Littlefoot said in sudden realization. He then rushed off towards the tree where his stone was stored. He didn't see the stone, but he remembered the whining. He tried to remember the source of the whining. He realized that the whining was coming from the hollow in the base of the tree, not the one where his stone was placed in.

He ducked his head, and looked into the hollow at the tree's base, and saw the stone that he was searching for. He excitedly grabbed the stone and pulled it out of the hollow. He noticed that the stone had turned orange. The exact same shade of orange as the stone that was in the hollow above the stone.

"I have this stone, but where is the other stone?" Littlefoot asked himself as he walked back to his nest.

--

"Well now. I guess I'll be revealing myself tomorrow, Argana. Four out of the five crystals have been located, and it will only be a matter of time before the last one is found." Vylon commented as the orange egg began rocking and squeaking with the yellow, purple, and pink eggs. Only the white egg remained motionless, but not for much longer.

"I am expecting a very exciting appearance." Argana said.


	9. The Smoke, The Flyer, and the Stone

Chapter 8: The Smoke, the Flyer, and the Stone

Petrie was flying by the Smoking Mountain. He thought that the stone would have been more visible by air. Apparently, the smoke of the Smoking Mountains made it impossible to fly that high, making the finding of a glimmer small. He wished that he could fly higher, but he didn't want to risk flying into the smoke and getting lost.

"Me wish me could find stone. Voice said stone by Smoking Mountain, but me no see no stone." He said to himself. "Me wonder if Ducky help me find stone." With that thought, he began flying over the Valley searching for the swimmer, but he didn't find her. Suddenly, Cera called him to help her with finding her stone.

"Okay! Me help you!" he responded happily. He flew down to her, and she told him to fly around the Thundering Falls while looking for her stone. It probably would have helped him if he could find her stone, so he quickly scanned it. It took about an hour, but soon, she had her stone. However, Petrie was knocked unconscious by the stone.

When Petrie was knocked out, he was given a vision of the five stones, and how they were used. He didn't understand it, but he saw all five stones placed in a shape that all five fitted in perfectly. Then a blinding flash lit up each stone. When the flash died down, he was given a brief flash of where each stone was. He saw that his stone was not actually at the Smoking Mountain, but somewhere in its vicinity. Seeing this vision gave Petrie a good idea in how he would find the stone, but he had no clue where he would find the stone.

"Me think me search every tree by Smoking Mountain." He said to himself, and then he realized that it would take a few days to search every tree, so he would ask for help on the task. He then began searching for Ducky, but he still could not find her. So he resolved to search for the stone on his own. Just as he was flying towards his stone's location, he noticed Littlefoot walking past.

"Littlefoot! Me need your help!" Petrie exclaimed as he flew towards the longneck.

"What is it, Petrie? I just got back from helping Ducky. Guess what? I just found my stone, but my other stone was stolen." Littlefoot replied.

"What? You say your stone stolen?"

"Yeah, it was weird. Everyone else had theirs stolen as well, and we don't know who would have taken them. What about your stone?"

"Me no know. Me haven't checked it. Can you wait here while me go check?"

"Sure."

With that, Petrie began flying back to his nest at high speed. When he arrived, he looked for the stone. He couldn't find it anywhere. With that, he flew back to Littlefoot, only to see him looking around the area. Littlefoot was looking around the trees, and suddenly he seized up. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Littlefoot! Me forgot to tell you. Don't touch my stone. You fall asleep." Petrie exclaimed, flying over to Littlefoot. Suddenly, he realized that Littlefoot had the stone in his mouth.

When Littlefoot came around, Petrie was standing right next to his head.

"Petrie! I just realized something. The stones we got are part of a guide to the creature that told us about these." Littlefoot said.

"Me wondering about that. By the way, me touch Cera's stone. Next thing me know, me waking up." Petrie replied.

"Well, I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we'll find out why we had to do this." Littlefoot said, feeling a little tired.

"Me, too. See you tomorrow, Littlefoot!"

Petrie began to fly away. He noticed that his stone had gone from clear to white, just like his stone.

--

"I think that all the eggs are finally found. And in one day! I'm surprised." Vylon said.

"I thought that you would have had at least two days until all of them were found. They must be more skilled than we thought." Argana responded.


	10. The Gate Opens

Chapter 9: The Gate Opens

Vylon was still sitting in his cave. All five of the eggs were shaking and rattling. He was hoping that the five children would come to his abode soon.

"They have the stones. Hopefully, they will figure out how to use them." He said.

"I know you, Vylon. You probably enchanted those stones to lead them to us." Argana said in return.

"You are correct. However, there is a certain requirement for that to happen. When they can figure out how to meet the requirement, they will find me. Then their training will commence."

"You make it seem easy, Vylon."

"I know. If I told them how to do it from the beginning, then they wouldn't have grown at all." With that, Vylon began meditating, searching for the minds of his future pupils.

--

The gang decided to go meet by the Thundering Falls with their respective stones. They thought that the stones would help them, but it seemed that they wouldn't reveal any secrets easily. As the five of them headed back to their nests, they began pondering why the five stones they were given were stolen.

"Well, we have the five stones. Do any of you feel different?" Ducky asked the group.

"I don't." Littlefoot replied, looking at the stones in disappointment.

"Me feel nothing." Petrie added.

"Me neither." Cera said with a hint of annoyance.

Spike just shook his head. With that, the five just gathered around the stones, looking at them with the same curiosity that a child has with a puzzle. Littlefoot thought that the stones might have to touch each other, so he and Cera moved their stones so that they touched, and then there was a buzzing sound emanating from the stones.

The gang watched in amazement as the two stones fused together. The stones still kept their colors, but the single stone was split between orange and pink. Excited, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike did the same with their stones. The exact same happened. Soon, all five stones were fused into a star with five different colored points. Suddenly, the colors began to swirl together until the stone was a silver color.

"I'm glad you finally figured out how to use these stones. I bet you are wondering where I am?" the voice rang out from the stone.

"Don't worry, we'll lead you to us. But you must not lose this stone at all." Another voice rang out, this time female, but with the same tone as the other voice.

"The tips of this star will light up when we finish talking to you. You must follow the point. It will lead you to us." The male voice said.

"Goodbye. You will see us soon." The female voice said, then one of the points of the stone lit up.

"Did you hear that?" Ducky asked the gang. All of them nodded in agreement. They looked at the stone, and realized that they needed to bring it with them, but they were all too afraid to pick it up, after what happened to both Littlefoot and Petrie.

However, Littlefoot decided to pick the stone. He was able to pick it up without being knocked out. Cera also helped Littlefoot. Spike helped, and none of them were knocked out. They tried to think of how to keep the stone with them, so they decided to tie it to Spike.

When the stone was tied to Spike with some vines, they began following the stone's directions. It took them almost no time to find where the stone was leading them. When they arrived, they noticed an area that was shaped like the stone on Spike's back in the ground. They thought that the stone should go there, since the stone was seemingly pulsating light from the center.

They lowered the stone into the ditch, and suddenly a blinding flash of light shot from the five ends of the stone towards the sky. The light gathered into a sphere, and the sphere shot into a section of the stone wall. The light spread across the stone wall to form an archway, then the light died away, leaving an open archway. In the archway stood a tall creature on two legs.

It had dark brown hair going down to the bottom of its ears. Its eyes were blue, and it was smiling. Behind it was an creature that was silver. It had a long neck, but it also had pointed teeth, like a sharptooth. The silver creature also had wings, and walked on four legs.

The slim creature was smiling. It then said, "Hello. My name is Vylon. Thank you for finding me." His voice matched the male voice that emanated from the stones.


	11. Revelations

Chapter 10: Revelations (not the book in the Bible)

"Greetings. I am glad you found me so quickly. I would have been lonely." said Vylor, finally appearing before the gang for the first time. From the looks on their faces, he assumed that he was being either idolized, feared, or just being stared at. He believed that it was the third reason, because his appearance would have caused that.

After some time, Littlefoot decided to speak. "Wh...What are you?" he asked in a tone of disbelief. In truth, he was somewhat scared of this new creature, just from his way of talking. I seemed as thought the creature knew too much to be ordinary.

"i am very nice. Just because I seem intelligent doesn't mean you have to be scared of me. Treat me like I'm normal." Vylon said, trying to get the disbelief out of them.

"That's not what I meant. I mean, what are you?" Littlefoot replied.

"If you want to know what race I am, I am an elf. I come from a land called Alagaesia."

"Where is that?" asked Ducky.

"Somewhere in the future. I came from there to find five Dragon Riders, and it turns out that you five were the ones to be partnered with the dragons in these five eggs." Vylon replied.

"What is a dragon?" Cera asked in her skeptical manner. She didn't believe a word this guy said, and she wouldn't until she had some proof.

"I am a dragon." Argana projected into Cera's mind so that only she could hear.

"Did any of you here that voice?" Cera asked, scared. The others shook their heads. Vylon only smiled.

"Ah! It appears that Argana has finally woken up." With that, he looked behind him, he saw the silver creature opening its eyes. It opened its mouth, and the children began wanting to run, but they couldn't move their legs. For some reason, they wouldn't work.

"Don't worry. Argana here won't hurt you at all. She is just yawning. Plus, she has learned to live off of plants. She is no threat to you unless you become dangerous to either me or her." Vylon said reassuringly. At once, the urge to run vanished. The gang could move their legs again.

"I apologize for paralyzing your legs. I couldn't have you run away from me without even getting to know Argana."

_He paralyzed our legs? How?_ Littlefoot thought to himself.

"Wait. You say you paralyze our legs. How you do it?" Petrie asked Vylon.

"I'm glad you asked me that. The answer is very simple: magic."

The gang looked at each other, and then began to laugh hysterically.

"yeah, right!" Cera exclaimed at Vylon. Magic. There isn't anything magical about him. She knew he was faking.

"You really think that there is nothing magical about me, Cera? I know exactly what you are thinking at any time." Vylon said. "I guess I must show you some of my magical abilities. Will you believe me then?"

"Sure. But you won't be able to. You can't be magical. I bet you couldn't even make me float." Cera responded arrogantly.

"Thank you for the idea." Vylon relied in a friendly manner, then he said a word in a language that the gang couldn't understand, in a voice too deep to hear coherently. Suddenly, Cera began floating a good meter above the ground. "Do you believe me now? How about if I surround you with fire that won't hurt you?" he asked, then Cera began burning a fire that matched her color perfectly. In fact, Cera looked just to be wavering instead of burning.

The gang gasped, but Vylon just kept his smile on, and then the fire disappeared, leaving Cera completely unharmed. Cera slowly fell down to the ground, looking scared and shocked.

"I can't believe this. This guy is magical. This is real magic." Vylon heard the gang think when Cera landed.

"You can't be real. There isn't anything such as magic." Cera said, dumbfounded.

"And yet you were lifted into the air once I said something. I think now would be the good time to accept magic as a reality. If you don't, the training I have in store for you will be impossible." Vylon replied with a calm demeanor.

"Training? What training?" Littlefoot asked, suddenly alert.

"Oh, my! I forgot to mention that. It would be best if I brought these here before we begin discussing your training." Vylon entered his cave. When he returned, the five stones that appeared before the gang were in his arms.

"It was you who stole the stones!" Ducky exclaimed when she saw the stones.

"Actually, I never did such thing. These are in my care until they hatch. As such, I let you come in contact with them. Then I decided to take back what was in my care and keep them in the best possible condition until you found me." Vylon said.

"You said 'hatch.' Does this mean that these stones are really eggs?" Littlefoot asked.

"Indeed, they are eggs. Not only eggs, though. Dragon eggs. These are the last dragon eggs in the possession of the Varden." Vylon replied. "It is your destiny to be the partners of these dragons. However, there is a catch."

"What catch?" Petrie asked.

"You must become like me. In other words, you must be elves. I know that you aren't elves, but I know a way that will allow to switch between an elvish and natural form." Vylon said.

"Why do we need to be elves? What is this Varden you speak of?" Littlefoot asked in exasperation.

"All in due time. Right now, it would be wise for you to return to your nests. It is getting late." Vylon said, noting the position of the Great Circle.

"You right! We need to be home!" Petrie exclaimed. With that, the five began to head back to their nests.

"Wait! I have but one request for you. That request is to meet me here tomorrow. Preferably at the Great Circle's first light." Vylon said. The five children agreed, then scurried off back home.

"Do you think that they will comply? The information shocked them a great deal." Argana asked.

"They will. If they don't, a little persuasion will help." Vylon replied.


	12. Decisions

Chapter 11: Decisions

Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike were faced with a conundrum. Should they take Vylon's proposal and become Dragon Riders, or should they stay in the Great Valley? They thought about their answers as they walked back.

"I want to be able to use this magic that he can, but I don't want to stop being a swimmer. No, no, no!" Ducky said.

"That magic isn't real. I bet this is just some joke the grown-ups are pulling on us to get a good laugh." Cera said stubbornly.

"Quit it, Cera. You know as well as I do that that is magic. How could you be covered in fire that matched your color, and come out perfectly unharmed? That has to be magic." Littlefoot said.

"Me no know about you guys, but me going to become Rider." Petrie said.

"Well, I think that we should make a decision as a group. How could we call ourselves friends if we didn't stick up for our friends decisions? We couldn't. No, no, no!" Ducky said. "I'm going to go with Petrie. What about you, Spike?"

Spike nodded as Ducky mentioned his name. He stood by his sister, no matter what.

"I'm doing it, too. I don't want you three to be alone. What about you, Littlefoot?" Cera asked.

"I don't know. I like being a longneck. But that magic is far too tempting. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. If we meet at Vylon's place, then my answer is yes. If not, tell him I don't want to be a Rider." Littlefoot said.

"Good night, Littlefoot!" the other three said.

Littlefoot walked back to his nest, saying good night to his grandparents. As he fell asleep, he began dreaming about Vylon and the offer he was given. He imagined himself on the back of a massive dragon the same orange color as his egg.

"Come!" a booming voice rang out in Littlefoot's head.

"Who are you?" Littlefoot asked, a little nervous.

"I am a friend. You don't need to fear me. Listen to me, Littlefoot. I know that you are fearing the choice of becoming a Dragon Rider, but don't be nervous about it. Listen closely, and I will tell you a story of my homeland, Alagaesia.

"I was born in the elven forest of Ellesmera. I was treated like a normal elf, until Argana hatched for me. Then, I rose above the ranks of all the other elves who weren't Dragon Riders. I was one of the prodigies that appear once every century. I discovered that I was one of the Riders who was proficient in magic. This gave me an advantage of the other Riders, but I still treated my fellow peers as equals, even though they and I were different.

"The land was peaceful. The rulers were benevolent. The land was treated nicely, and it returned the favor with successful harvest after harvest. The happiness was like no other in the world.

"However, this couldn't last. One of the Dragon Riders was reckless. He lost his dragon. He went insane with grief and madness. He grew angry with the Elder Riders. He decided to betray the Riders and steal a newly hatched dragon. He destroyed the Riders, and the peace we strived so hard to achieve. This man is the current king of Alagaesia. He possesses two dragon eggs that he hasn't managed to hatch yet.

"Your decision is not only for you. It is for the dragon hatchlings that the king possesses. It is for the friends of the elves. It is for Alagaesia. It is for peace.

"Think hard, Littlefoot. I will await your decision tomorrow. I beg that you come to me."

Littlefoot, while hearing the tale, watched events happening before his eyes. The events seemed to be of what Vylon experienced. The images matched up with the story perfectly.

Littlefoot awoke. He noticed that it was still night time. He decided to leave a little early. He wanted to be at Vylon's cave at the crack of dawn.


	13. Riders Before The Pact

Chapter 12: Riders Before The Pact

Littlefoot was the first to arrive at Vylon's cave. Cera, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike arrived a little bit before dawn. When they saw Littlefoot, they showed looks of relief and happiness on their faces.

"Good. You decided to come, Littlefoot." Cera said, with happiness in her voice.

"Yeah. I think it had to do with a dream, but I can't remember." Littlefoot replied.

"Good morning!" Vylon said, appearing from his cave. When the gang first arrived, the gate had opened in a spectacular manner. Now, however, a set of two stone doors swung out, opening the entrance to the cave.

"Judging by the fact that you are here, you have decided to accept my proposal and become Dragon Riders." He said.

"Yes, we have." Littlefoot, Cera, Petrie, and Ducky said in unison. Spike only nodded.

"Very well. I think that I should inform you of a few things first. Firstly, when you touch your dragon hatchling, you will feel a burst of energy shoot through your palms. It will paralyze you, but once that fades away, you will have officially become Dragon Riders. Now, there is a problem with the rules of the Dragon Riders. A Dragon Rider must be one of the two races that have agreed to the Dragon's Pact. You five are of races that have existed long before the pact was even thought of. Therefore, you technically can't become Dragon Riders. Luckily, I am one of the most proficient elves in magic, so this will aid us.

"There is only one way a race that isn't in the pact to become a Rider, and that is to become one of the races in the pact. I can't change the pact, it would require too much magic that I could ever possess or handle. Instead, I have decided to turn you into elves. I will put an enchantment to temporarily transform you into elves. Once this enchantment is up, you can become Riders, since you are technically one of the races in the Dragon's Pact. However, the enchantment is temporary, so it will only be maintained as long as I am able to, which won't be as long as I had wanted it to because I have to maintain five enchantments simultaneously.

"However, once you have become Dragon Riders, I won't have to worry about that anymore. The magic of the pact will stabilize and fortify the enchantment, allowing you to stay as elves for as long as you want to. In other words, you will become elves in every aspect except your minds. I can't give you the mind-set of the elves. All I can give you is our abilities. The rest is up to you. If you are proficient in magic, I will teach you how to transform yourself and your friends back into your original forms.

"Now, you may be wondering why I have told you so much about what is about to happen. This is because I want you to ask questions. I want your curiosity to flourish. I want you to learn. I can't be a successful mentor if you are not willing to ask how and why things happen, what things are, and who people are."

The gang was dumbfounded by Vylon's explanation of what was going to happen, but they seemed to get the general gist of what they were supposed to do. They had to touch the dragon hatchlings before Vylon's spell wore off. With a nod of their heads, Vylon began his incantation. The sound of Vylon's voice began to flow like a melody, rising and falling, the pitch changing in a most beautiful way. The gang didn't feel any different while Vylon was singing his spell, but they felt a tingling over their bodies towards the end of the incantation.

Vylon decided to fetch a mirror so that the gang could see their elven forms. They realized that they were very similar to Vylon in the face. They had varying hair colors. Littlefoot, Cera, and Petrie had a raven-black hair. Ducky and Spike, however, had a dark brown hair. Petrie, Ducky, and Cera had deep blue eyes, while Littlefoot and Spike had deep green eyes. They were slim, just like Vylon.

"I don't mean to rush you, but I would begin holding your eggs. They should hatch soon." Vylon said. "Also, be quick in touching your dragon hatchling."

The group of elves decided that Vylon was right, and they picked up their respective eggs. Suddenly, the eggs began to squeak loudly. Almost out of instinct, they put the eggs down and sat in front of the eggs. As the squeaking became louder, the rocking became more and more violent. Cracks began to appear on the eggs. Pieces began falling off of the eggs, and soon, the five dragons were out of their eggs, examining their new environments. Excited, Petrie was the first to touch his hatchling.

Suddenly, a burst of energy shot from his hand. He collapsed, curled up on the floor. After seeing this, the four conscious elves became reluctant to touch their hatchlings. VYlon, on the other hand, told them to. Reluctantly, one by one, they fell unconscious. After all five of the elves fell unconscious, the hatchlings began to look at their partners. Argana came out of the cave, her shoulder just above Vylon's. She looked at her children with the look a mother gives her children. The hatchlings looked around, and saw the elder dragon, and quickly climbed on top of their mother. They began acting like kittens. Argana was more than happy to entertain her young.

Vylon, on the other hand, carried the unconscious elves one by one into his cave, where he laid them on five separate beds, and waited for them to wake up. There was only one thing running through his mind, and that was the joy of his pupils finally becoming ready to be trained.


	14. Telepathy

Chapter 13: Telepathy

Littlefoot was waking up. He didn't know where he was, but the area he was laying in was fairly comfortable. All he wanted to do was stay where he was. Then he realized what had happened before he was knocked out. He stood up, but instead of on the usual four legs, he stood on two legs. He saw a reflective object, and reached for it, and was surprised to see that he could grab things much more easily. He picked up the object, and saw an angled face with black hair and green eyes.

He put the mirror back down, and walked around the cave where he was sleeping. Suddenly, a section of the wall was outlined, then vanished into thin air. Where the wall was standing was Vylon.

"Ah! You're awake. Good. I thought that you might have been asleep a little too long for my taste." He said, walking into the chamber.

"What happened? I was touching that dragon, then I fell asleep, and then I wake up here with a new body." Littlefoot responded.

"You were changed by my spell, remember? When you touched the dragon hatchling, your form was stabilized. You became an elf, if only on the outside."

"But where is the hatchling?"

"In the main chamber. Argana is keeping them entertained. After all, she is their mother. She laid their eggs. Don't worry. They'll be fine. What you should be worrying about is yourself."

Littlefoot decided to not to respond to Vylon. Suddenly, Littlefoot felt an emptiness around him, as though his eyes were blinded by a fog that had suddenly cleared. Littlefoot felt a powerful hunger through the void, but out of fear, he recoiled and hid inside his mind.

"I can sense your thoughts, you know? You just receded into your mind after feeling a hunger. That was just your dragon reaching out for its partner." Vylon explained.

"That was my dragon?" Littlefoot responded.

"Yes. All dragons have telepathic abilities. Just like elves. In fact, you could be having a conversation with me completely by thoughts instead of words."

"How do I do that?"

"Well, you felt a void when your dragon reached for you, right? Enter that void. Don't fear it. You'll soon find many things in what you thought was emptiness."

Littlefoot decided to do just that. He relaxed, and let his mind escape the fortress that it was hidden in. He suddenly felt lights appear, showing where living things were. The only noticeable ones were Argana, the hatchlings, Vylon, and Cera, Petrie, Ducky, and Spike.

While Littlefoot was reaching out toward's Vylon, Spike began to stir. He stood up, and opened his mouth and said, "I can talk."

With this statement, Spike began to talk to Vylon about what happened. Vylon decided to let Spike know what happened by projecting the discussion between him and Littlefoot directly into Spike's mind. With that, Spike projected the thought "Thank you." back to Vylon.

Littlefoot was completely amazed. He had never heard Spike say more than one word at a time, yet here he was, actually having a conversation with an elf that says he will mentor us five. Littlefoot decided to talk to Vylon via thought, and succeeded in speaking with Vylon.

One by one, the rest of the gang stirred, and one by one, Vylon told them via telepathy what he discussed with Littlefoot. Once they were all informed, Cera asked, "Where is the main chamber? What are the names of our dragons?"

"Your dragons know their names. You must wait, though. They aren't old enough to project clear thoughts. As of now, they can only project feelings and urges." Vylon replied. "I should have mentioned this before, but your parents are unaware of my existence. Is this correct?"

The gan responded with a nod. Vylon then responded, "Well then. I guess I should introduce myself. Tell your parents to meet at this place as soon as you can."  
"Wait! How will we tell our parents that we are us? We're not our original race anymore." Petrie asked, speaking perfect English.

"I'll make you normal again. Then you let your parents know where to go, and I'll introduce myself." Vylon responded.

With that, Vylon descended into each of the gang's minds, and broke through a barrier that only he felt, and the gang returned to normal with a flash of silver light. When they were back to their normal forms, they left the cave, letting Vylon know they would be back as soon as possible.

As the children arrived at their nests, they told their parents that there was this one thing that they had to see. It took a while, but one by one, they coerced their parents to meet in front of Vylon's cave. As the day progressed, the parents arrived at the cave, but nothing happened once all were there.

Cera's dad asked, "What was here that was so special that I came here?" in his usual attitude.

"I think they meant me." A voice rang out from the top of the wall. The kids looked up to see Vylon standing there. Out of nowhere, he jumped, only to be caught by Argana, who was only about his size. He rode down on her back, dismounting when she landed.

"So, you must be these children's parents. Am I right?" Vylon asked.

A murmur of "yes" came from the group, apparently a little worried that he knew their children. He responded, "I think it would be best if you saw what I want you to know instead of me explaining it all out.

The parents suddenly saw a rush of colors shoot past their eyes, and they were overlooking a huge forest of green. Instead of standing on a cliff, though, they were apparently floating in mid-air.

"This is my home. Du Weldenvarden, the ancient forest of the elves. I am an elf named Vylon, and this is why I know your children." Vylon's voice rang out.

With those words, a scene unfolded beneath the parents. A land of peace seemed to stretch out in all directions, showing prosperity and happiness acrosss the land. People flew upon dragons, protecting the land from harm. Suddenly, the story shifted, showing darkness, despair, and vicious creatures attacking mercilessly.

Vylon's voice rang out again. "As of now, there is a war going on in my homeland. An evil ruler has taken control of the country of Alagaesia, and has destroyed an order known as the Dragon Riders, of which I was one of. As I see it, your children are the key to the downfall or our evil ruler. They are Dragon Riders, and that is why I must train them."

Vylon released the illusion, and the parents stopped seeing what happened in Alagaesia, and returned to the real world. The minute the spell was released, a slight quarrel broke out between Mr. Threehorn and Grandpa Longneck.

"We can't let them learn. It's too dangerous." Topsy said.

"Yes, but would you condemn an entire race to death even though your daughter could save them just because of that?" Grandpa responded.

"Um, excuse me, but I think that I could solve this quarrel much more easily than with logic." Vylon said.

"Oh? How, you elf?" Topsy responded. Vylon remained silent, but he seemed focused on something. Argana then snarled at Mr. Threehorn.

"I wouldn't get Argana angry. She might look small, but this is because she can change her size. A dragon's size is dependent on his/her age, and Argana is an old dragon. She probably could eat you whole, if she wanted to." Vylon responded, enjoying the fearful look on Mr. Threehorn's face. _I think that Cera is getting a kick out of this, too, _Vylon thought to himself.

"Alright. You can teach her. But she better not be harmed in any way, our you'll have me to deal with." Topsy said, trying to get the last word.

"And if I have to deal with you, Argana will have a nice meal. Please don't make me kill you. It would be all too easy if I weren't so good natured. If you threaten me, though, I might not be so good natured." Vylon replied, knowing that he got the last word.


	15. The Training Begins

Chapter 14: The Training Begins

As the grown-ups left, Mr. Threehorn was still in shock. Not only had he been out-threatened, but he was also made a fool of in front of his own daughter. That was one thing that will embarrass anybody.

Meanwhile, back at the cave, Vylon began talking with his future pupils once more. "I just want you to know when you will see me. In the mornings, you will come here. I will transform you into elves, and the day's training can begin. While I am training you, Argana will take care of the hatchlings. If you want, you can visit them before the day's training begins and after it ends.Do you have any questions on this?"

"Yeah. What will we be learning?" Ducky asked.

"That is simple. Or maybe not. You'll find out tomorrow." Vylon replied. "Now, I think that there is enough time for me to sing myself a house in the trees before you head off home. Would you like to witness how an elf makes a home? It is quite interesting."

The response from the group was "yes," completely in unison, except for Spike, who just nodded.With that, Vylon went over to a group of trees. He examined the branches, the roots, and the area around the bases of the trees. Vylon began to sing in an ethereal language. The song rose and fell, and it seemed to make the gang feel alive. The trees seemed to respond to the music. Out of nowhere, branches grew out of the trees. They seemed to grow towards the other trees. They fused together, forming a connecting pathway between the trees. More and more branches behaved as such, and the trees soon formed a little house between them. The hut seemed to be multiple floors to accommodate for its small radius.

"Would you like to come in?" Vylon asked the gang. They replied with another group "yes." With that, Vylon opened the door, and entered the elf's house. The marveled that it seemed to be larger on the inside, but it probably was just a trick of the eyes. On the wall was a set of shelves made up mostly of cubbyholes. They ascended to the next level, which was harder than they expected because the steps were extremely steep for them, but Vylon was able to climb them with ease.

On the second level, there was a huge opening in the wall, and aa little depression on the ground. There was also a writing desk right by the opening. There was a door right by the stairs, and the kids asked what was there. Vylon responded, "My area for washing my clothes. I can't sew that well, I don't have the materials needed, and I only brought a limited supply. I might not know how to make clothes, but I can wash them."

They ascended the stairs once more, and when they reached the top of the structure, they saw an amazing view of the Great Valley. Again, there was a depression in the floor. A wooden bed frame rested by the depression, as well as a sliding wooden door. They asked again, and Vylon told them that was where he stored his clothes.

"I'm surprised. I thought that you would have asked about the opening in the walls, or the depressions in the floor. But you seem to pay more attention to detail, and that will help you in your training. By the way, the depression is where Argana can sleep, and the openings are where I can exit and where Argana can fly in and out."

"How do you get out? Can you fly like Petrie?" Petrie asked.

"Not at all. It would take too much effort for me to fly, and besides, Argana can fly for me. I can just jump down onto the branches and swing or climb down them, depending on my mood. We elves are good at climbing trees." Vylon replied.

"Me thinks we should get home soon. Good night everybody! Me see you tomorrow!" Petrie said, then flew out of the opening back to his nest. With that in mind, the rest of the gang decided to climb down the stairs, but Vylon decided to make things a little easier on them. He just clapped his hands, and the stairs suddenly became a slide down to the ground floor. "Don't worry," he said, "You won't fall off the ramp. You'll get down faster if you take this, anyways. Unless you want to fall out of the opening, that is. I put a little protection on the slide so that you won't slide off. Well, off you go. I'll slide with you, if that makes you any happier." Vylon then proceeded towards the ramp, jumped onto it, and slid down with his arms spread out. The gang followed suit, but instead of standing on the slide, they sat down and pushed themselves down it.

The ride was short, but it was fun for them. The wind rushing past their face made them feel like they were flying. They now knew what Petrie felt when he flew, and why he liked it so much. When they reached the bottom, Vylon was already waiting for them. He said, "That might have felt like flying but it wasn't. You'll truyl experience the joy of flying when you ride with your dragon." The gand then headed back to their nests, anxiously awaiting the next day's training.

--

When the gang awoke, they decided to have a quick breakfast, then they departed towards Vylon's cave. Vylon was not at the cave, though. He was standing at the base of his new home. He looked completely serious, devoid of his usually fun attitude.

"Welcome to your training. This will be tough, and I won't train those who give up. So if you are the kind of person that gives up easily, leave now." He said, and waited for any of them to leave. When none of them left, he looked pleased. His usual fun attitude returned. "Good, you want to be trained and you are willing to be pushed past your limits. I'll release your elven forms so that the training can commence in earnest." Vylon then reached into the gang's minds, and released the elven form.

"Now that you are elves, I should begin by explaining to you what I will be teaching you. I plan to make you physically, and mentally prepared for the tasks of a Dragon Rider. I think that we should go through how the days will pass by, first. I shall start you off with the Rimgar, or the Dance of Snake and Crane. It is a method of exercise that was designed to prepare Riders for combat, but is now done to keep fit and healthy by elves. I will perform the Rimgar with you, seeing as you don't know how to do it."

Vylon then began bending down towards his feet. The gang followed his examples one by one until they reached a point where they couldn't perform the poses anymore. By that time, they were feeling hot and sweaty, but also more prepared. Vylon then said, "I think that we have reached a good stopping point. We'll continue with the Rimgar tomorrow.

"The next thing on my agenda is the art of swordfighting. All Dragon Riders were good swordsmen, but it was rare for excellent swordsmen to join our ranks. The method that most teachers used while teaching swordsmanship was first sparring with their students to evaluate their skill, then teaching the student how to perform certain techniques."

He then pulled out five staffs from a box on the side of his hut, and while handing one to each of his pupils said, "I don't need to do this, however. I know that you have never even picked up a sword in your life. Therefore, we can skip the initial sparring match and go straight into the technique teaching." When they all had a stick, he went and grabbed a sword of magnificent craftmanship. The sheath was silver like Argana's scales, and when he unsheathed it, the blade was the same exact color. "This is my sword, Argana. Each Rider is presented a sword to match his or her dragon's color at the completion of the training. I named my twin blades Argana and Argaya, for they are sisters in fighting."

After he finished, he showed the gang how to hold a sword correctly. Once he knew that they had a good grip, he began showing them the basic postures. These were fairly simple, and all five students were able to master these poses quickly. "I don't want to spar with you today, only because you are a little tired from the Rimgar. Tomorrow, we will practice these postures through battle.

"I think that we should break for lunch, don't you?" Vylon asked his students.

"Sure. I'm hungry. How about you, Ducky?" Spike said.

"I'm hungry, too." Ducky replied.

"Same here." Littlefoot said. Cera and Petrie just nodded.

"Excellent! Just letting you know, I won't release the elven form for lunch, with few exceptions. The only way you can eat normally would be for you to release the elven form yourselves, but that won't happen for a while." Vylon said. "Why don't you come in and eat? I've added some furniture on the ground level for eating."

He and his students entered the tree hut. Vylon went towards the cubbyholes, and pulled out some bowls with vegetable soup. He placed them in front of his students. "Try it. It's good." Vylon said. Cera was the first to try the soup, and she found it quite delicious. One by one, with Spike being the last, they tried their soups, and ate it until the bowl was empty. Surprisingly, they knew how to use the utensils that Vylon gave them, even though they have never used them before.

"I think we have a little bit of time for discussion before we go into other subjects that I have planned for today. Any questions?" Vylon asked.

"Yes. Where are our hatchlings? You said that Argana was taking care of them, but what do dragons usually eat?" Littlefoot asked.

"Dragons are actually more like sharpteeth. They eat meat. However, I recently discovered a way dragons could live of plants. Also, they are probably playing somewhere. You might have not heard, but last night, I sent out a giant telepathic wave saying that Argana and the hatchlings are not harmful, and should be treated as guests. Your parents also got a special message. I won't say what that message was, but the trees here are actually the kind that dragons can live off of.

"I think that we've spent enough time chatting. Back to training. The next thing I will teach is logic, or the art of rational thinking. There is only one way to teach this is through debate. I will ask you a question. I will give you as much time as you want, but I would like an answer and reason to your answer. The first question I will ask you is this; Why do you fear sharpteeth? I don't want a response now. When you think you have an answer, tell me.

"After logic, I planned the subject of history. This is vast, and I think that it would be best taught in the cave. I have an area set up for you there." Vylon led them to the cave. As he approached the cave door, he realized that he still needed a key. "Oh! That reminds me. You need keys into the cave. If you ever want a scroll to read, I have a variety of scrolls and books in there." He pulled out a pouch, and emptied the pouch. Inside there were five miniature stars attached to a circle of rope. "Just put these on, and walk through the wall where you see the outline. This is how I get in and out of the cave when I close it." He put his, which was in his hand, around his neck, and then walked towards the wall. Instead of pressing against the wall, he went straight through. The gang followed suit.

Inside, they saw Vylon leading them into a chamber. The chamber he was in was the same chamber that they awoke in the day before. The beds were still there. Vylon clapped his hands when Littlefoot, the last to enter, was in the room. The front half of the five beds rose on a pillar of stone, forming a desk to sit at. Cera was the first to sit down. Littlefoot, Ducky, Petrie, and Spike followed suit.

"Just letting you know, this is a vast subject. Don't expect to grasp it at first glance. Ask if you need clarification." Vylon said. He then began explaining the origins of magic. He told about the Grey Folk, who created the ancient language and gave it its magical abilities. Vylon also made comments about the events. On the subject of the origins of the ancient language, he said, "When we get to magic, you will understand this better. That is, if you can perform magic." He continued, explaining how the dwarves found their homes in the mountains. When he reached the explanation of Farthen Dur and Isidar Mithrim, the Star Sapphire, he pulled out a slate slab covered with ink. "I always keep these in here. These slabs are used for making fairths, which are images created in a magical fashion. They are great for showing what something looks like, but it is from the maker's view. This is how the Star Sapphire looks like." He said a spell in his ethereal voice, and the ink on the slab began to change instantly. When the fairth was complete, Vylon showed the fairth to the gang. On the slab was a giant red circle, but it seemed to refract and bend the light like a gemstone. The stone was expertly crafted, and it reminded the gang of a very beautiful flower. "This is the dwarves' treasure. It is priceless, but that is not why it is precious to them. It is the ultimate example of their craftmanship.

"I think that we have reached a good stopping point for today. I think that you are able to go home now, but you can see the hatchlings first if you want." Vylon said, and escorted them outside. Argana and the hatchlings were already outside. The students quickly asked Vylon about their dragons, to which Vylon replied, "You should talk to them. Send them emotions through your thoughts. Let them experience what you have experienced. It helps them grow mentally." The gang tried this, sending emotions and pictures to their hatchlings. They responded with obvious delight, squeaking happily.

Vylon released the elven form, reverting the gang back into dinosaurs. They bade Argana and Vylon farewell, then went back towards their ususal meeting places to relax and talk.

"I'm surprised that they aren't asking questions. I was expecting curiosity from them, but they seem to understand what I am telling them. It might be a by-product of the transformation, but I have to think." Vylon told Argana.

"Be grateful they aren't being too curious. These hatchlings would be hopless if I weren't around to protect them." Argana replied.

--

A/N: People, please review. I want to wait until I have at least 10 reviews before the next chapter is posted.


	16. An Attack

**In light of the new book in the Inheritance Cycle, _Brisingr_, being released this Saturday, I have decided to revoke my ransom and release the next chapter. I also have decided not to hold my chapters for reviews anymore. Instead, I beg of you to review my story. I want to know the opinions of my readers. One more thing; this is only the second or third time I've used author's notes. This will be common from now on.  
**

**Anyways, without further ado, here is Chapter 15.**

--

Chapter 15: An Attack

The children were walking home, discussing the day's events. They felt a little sore after the Rimgar, but it seemed to make them stronger than they were in the morning. They felt like they could run faster, noticeably faster than before. They tried to remember what the history of the land of Alagaesia was like, and the postures for swordfighting. However, nothing was more on their mind than Vylon's question. "Why are sharpteeth feared?"

"I don't know. They are scary to us." Cera said.

"That's right. It is, it is." Ducky replied

"I don't think that was what he wanted, though. I mean, he might have wanted to know why they scare us." Littlefoot said.

"Me think so, too. He say he want explanation, but me can't explain why fast-biters scary." Petrie said.

The discussion became heated quickly. Littlefoot kept on saying that they had to look beyond what they thought and look deeper into their way of life. Cera, on the other hand, was persistent in saying that all he wanted was that fast-biters are scary. Ducky sided with Cera, while Petrie sided with Littlefoot. After a while, they decided to just play around instead of argue on they had to think about.

The general consensus was tag, so to make things fair, Littlefoot was the one to be it first. He gave the rest of his friends a little time to scatter, then he began chasing after Cera. He wanted to be as fair as he could. Chasing Ducky would have been too easy. Cera quickly noticed that Littlefoot was on her tail, so she began running in a complicated weaving pattern. At every turn, she tried to throw Littlefoot off her tail, but he was very persistent. He kept on following her. She just couldn't shake him.

Suddenly, she had an idea. She thought that she could turn around, then run right past Littlefoot without him ever touching her. So, when she stopped, Littlefoot thought she was up to something. She began charging at Littlefoot, and Littlefoot realized this would be a great time to tag her. He reached hit tail to where she would be, and when she ran past, he tapped her with his tail and exlcaimed, "Tag! You're it!"

She turned around, and she decided to find someone else to tag instead of Littlefoot. She tried to find Petrie, but she realized that she wouldn't be able to reach him. Instead, she began searching for Spike, but he was quite elusive for his size. However, she was diligent. Soon she found Spike, and gave chase. Spike, however, was quick to hide again. Cera kept on trying to find Spike, but once she did, hid again.

An idea hit her. She could search for Petrie, Ducky, and Spike with her mind. She looked for Spike first, and she saw exactly where he was. Since he was the first person she noticed, she decided to go for him. However, instead of actually going for him directly, she tried to sneak up. She was successfully able to reach his hiding spot without being noticed, and she confidently went, "Tag! You're it, Spike!"

The game continued like this. Soon, everyone was using their mind to find targets. It almost took the fun out of it. After about ten rounds, they decided to stop playing and walk around the Great Valley. They went past the caves that they adventured in when they found Chomper's egg. As they went past, there was movement in the shadows. A fast-biter looked out of the cave, and saw the children. He thought that they would be an easy meal, so he called out to the rest of the pack. There were about ten fast-biters in the pack. They decided to go now, while the children were alone.

The fast-biters ran out of the cave and into the nearest grove of trees for protection and camoflauge. They hid in the trees, sneaking closer and closer to the unsuspecting children. They decided to pounce, and came rushing out of the forest. The children saw the fast-biters, screamed out in fear, and began running. The fast-biters were fast, though. They were close to the children when the leading fast-biter flew back. Where the fast-biter was only a moment ago was Vylon, his fist extended.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of these." He told his pupils. Suddenly, he vanished, only to appear behind the next fast-biter in line. He grabbed the fast-biter by the neck, spun around, and threw it at another fast-biter. He suddenly stopped moving. In a flash, all the fast-biter were taken out. In that flash, it appeared that Vylon was beating each of the fast-biter at the same time.

The parents arrived shortly after Vylon finished the last of the pack.

"What happened here? We heard the children screaming, and rushed over here." Grandpa Longneck asked.

"I took care of them. They aren't a threat anymore. Apparently, I also heard the children screaming, and ran over here as quickly as I could. It was very easy. The first one was punched back. The second one was thrown into the third one. The rest were taken out with my light step." Vylon explained.

"Well, thank you for protecting our children, Vylon." Grandma Longneck said.

"Don't mention it. Your children are the key to a peaceful future in Alagaesia. I can't let our one hope for overthrowing the king die that easily."

As the parents left, the gang was amazed by how easily Vylon defeated the fast-biters. "Are you sure you want to know? You'll have to be able to use magic to be able to do it, and it won't be like casting ususal spells. It took me a few years to develop that technique."

"Yes!" the gang said in unison, with noticeable impatience.

"Very well. I focus agic to the area directly below my feet. This allows me to move at amazingly fast speeds. With enough skill, I could have taken out the entire pack in one light step. However, as of now, I'm tired, so I can't reach my full potential. I had to take out a few before I could finish the rest off." Vylon replied. "If you are one of those Dragon Riders that is proficient in magic, I'll show you how to do it."

"How many Riders usually can use magic?" Cera asked.

"Maybe about one in five Riders can use magic. That means that probably only one of you can use magic. I might be wrong, though. Now, you should get home. Look at the sky. It's already dark." Vylon said, getting them to their nests.

Vylon decided to go back to his hut. He decided to walk and admire the scenery of the Valley. It marvelled him that such a place could exist. But, then again, he lived in Ellesmera in Du Weldenvarden for most of his non-Dragon Rider life.

"Argana. I'm back! Where are the hatchlings?" he called out using his mind.

"They are currently sleeping in your bed. They are quite comfortable there, you know." She replied.

"And you?"

"I'm just flying around. Where are you?"

"I'm right at the hut. Can you fly into the second floor? I don't want to disturb the hatchlings."

"Sure. I'll sleep there with you for tonight."

As Vylon climbed the stairs to his study, he marvelled at how much his life has changed ever since Argana hatched for him.

He became a Dragon Rider, the only one with two gedwëy ignasia; one on each palm. He was also the only Rider to master the dual-sword style of swordsmanship. For that matter, he was the only Rider to bear two swords. Now he has defied reality and travelled back in time, and is teaching five Riders simultaneously.

He saw Argana fly through the opening. She was large enough to shelter him with her wing, so he sat down, rested his head on her side, and fell asleep as her wing descended.

--

Vylon felt the presence of Ducky first. She was a while away, so he had enough time to do his daily ablusions before meeting the children outside. He entered the chamber that he said was for washing his clothes. He turned on the taps, and rested in the warm water in the depression in the wood. He got out, and took one of the towels that he had. He climbed the stairs and picked out his clothes for the day. He put them on, then woke up Argana and the hatchlings. Argana flew up to the third floor, and helped carry three of the hatchlings down. Vylon took the pink and purple hatchlings and carried them down the stairs on his shoulder.

He walked out the door with enough time to spare waiting for his students. They arrived at around the time they had to. Vylon let them have a little fun with their hatchlings and share thoughts. Then, he transformed the pupils into elves. He helped them perform the Rimgar this morning. Each pose that they had difficulty with, he helped them by giving them step-by-step instructions on how to enter the poses. At the conclusion of the day's Rimgar practice, Vylon said, "Good job. You currently have achieved the first third of the first of four levels of the Rimgar. Just letting you know, it gets tougher from here on out."

He then fetched them their wooden swords, and they began a sparring match. Vylon, wielding two wooden swords, proved to be on a totally different level in terms of skill, speed, and strength than his students. Even though there were five of them and only one of him, he was able to fend off every attack they threw at him while excecuting an offensive that wasn't strong or fast enough to get past the gang's defenses, but it tested them physically. Vylon decided that they have had enough practice for the day.

"I think that we've done enough of the physical aspect of being a Rider for today. I'll give you until lunch to relax or work on the logic problem I gave you yesterday.

When Vylon said that they could work on the logic problem, the debate that started yesterday began again. Cera was still firm that Vylon wanted just a straightfoward answer, and Littlefoot wanted to give a more thought-out answer with a deeper meaning. Spike, on the other hand, decided to ask Vylon what he wanted the answer to be like. Vylon responded, "Good! You're thinking logically. Instead of talking amongst yourselves, you decided to ask me for help since I know what you want to know, I am a useful source of information. Well, Cera is going in the wrong direction on this problem. Littlefoot, on the other hand, has got the idea, but needs to implement it."

"Thank you, Vylon."

"Um, about what to call me. I don't want to interrupt your heated discussion, but I think I must let you know one thing. When you are talking to me, please refer to me as Master Vylon or Master. This only applies to when I'm training you. When I'm not training you, I"m not technically your master, so you don't need to be so formal." Vylon said.

"Now, I know you four were having an intense conversation, but I would say that it is lunchtime, don't you?" Vylon asked.

"Sure. Let's eat!" the group said in unison.

They entered Vylon's house again, and this time, he pulled out a fruit salad as a meal. While eating, Spike asked Vylon, "How do you get these plants? Did you bring them with you, or did you grow them? If you grew them, how?"

"I sing to the tree. It bears the fruit I need, and grows it. That is where I get my food." Vylon replied. "Well, I think that we should get back to history."

They walked back to the cave, where Vylon began explaining what happened after Isidar Mithrim was built, how the elves arrived, then he stopped. "I apologize, but I don't like this historical event. It was too great a war and it never should have happened. However, I must cover it. It is known as Du Fyrn Skulblaka, or the elves' war with the dragons." He said,and found it hard to continue the lesson. "Apparently, I can't say anymore on Du Fyrn Skulblaka today. We'll wrap this lesson up and proceed to something I didn't show you yesterday. Follow me." He began to move to the main chamber, and walked out the front door. Outside, he went to the area where they normally performed the Rimgar. There were these large bowls.

"Fill these bowls with water. That is all I have to say. If you work at it and you'll succeed. If you give up then get out of my sight." Vylon said. The gang decided to use the water jugs that came with the bowl. They went to the Thundering Falls to get water, then poured it into the bowl. The water drained ouf of the bowl. All Vylon did was smile. They kept trying and trying, but it was fruitless as the water drained out of the bowls. The gang was getting frustrated. This made Vylon happy, and he smiled even more.

"Why are you happy? You've given us an impossible task." Cera shouted at him.

"Relax, relax. All will become clear to you." Vylon replied in a cool manner.

Ducky was feeling extremely frustrated. She was given an impossible task, and her teacher was not willing to tell her why. The thing that frustrated her most, however, was the bowl itself, and how it would always empty itself. She thought of water. Suddenly, she feels a little dent in her mind. It seemed to be a part of her, but not like the rest of her. She reached for this, but it was blocked by a barrier. She drove into the barrier, and energy coarsed through her body. As this happened, she thought of one word.

"Adurna." She said, and suddenly, her bowl began to fill with water. This time, however, the water didn't leak out. Soon the bowl was filled to the brim with water. Vylon was dumbfounded.

"Amazing. I thought that this was impossible to complete on the first day. It took me two weeks before I could accomplish this task." He said.

"This task is possible? How?" Littlefoot asked.

"The answer is magic. This is how Riders were taught how to use magic. The truth is, I lied about Dragon Riders and magic. All Riders can use magic. So this was to release your magical self. This is a way that makes Riders more powerful magic users than normal magicians." Vylon said.

"I think that we've spent enough time training for today. Why don't you head home for the day?" he said.

--

**Well, here it is. Please R&R. Also, on the subject of the next chapter, I am at a writer's block. It might also be the insane amount of work that I've been given recently. If you review, you could leave an idea or suggestion about the next plot, too. I would appreciate that. Even if I do overcome this writer's block, the next chapter might not be for some time. Until then, be patient. Please. Also, if you want something to read while I try to overcome this writer's block, check out my new fan-fiction, Tales of a Dragonkeeper. But, if you haven't read _Brisingr_ yet, and if you hate spoilers, DO NOT LOOK INTO THE REVIEWS!! Someone posted some of the spoilers as a review. Just a warning, in case you want to read the reviews.  
**


	17. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

**I apologize for this, but I will have to put Riders Before the Pact on hiatus for a while. I'm at a writer's block. I also want to address somethings that I mentioned earlier in the story. This will take some time, because I am writing at least two chapters ahead. I apologize for the inconvience.**

**Just another note: _DON'T WRITE REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER!!_This is only an author's note. I don't want my reviews to go up. You can review this chapter when this author's note becomes an actual chapter. Don't worry. By December 31st, 2008, I shall have the next two chapters up. That gives me about two-and-a-half months to work on these next two chapters. I will be working on my other fan-fiction, though.**

**In the meantime, why don't you read these fan-fictions.**

-The Future Begins – Fresh blood – This is a really well-written fan-fic. It is an Eragon/Saphira fan-fic, but it is really well done. Probably the best E/S fic there.

Note – I got the idea to put my story on hiatus from this fan-fiction.

-Bonded – Platypus Caper – An Eragon/Saphira fan-fiction, but it isn't at that point _yet_. I recommend it.

-Sapphire Chronicles – DragonFireOKN – Yet another Eragon/Saphira fan-fiction. It doesn't show this until the end, but it really is good.

-Sapphire Chronicles: Paradise Lost – DragonFireOKN – The sequel to the Sapphire Chronicles. The plot is good, if still young.

-Divine Intervention – Platypus Caper – A little mary-sue-ish, but still good. Hints at Eragon/Saphira, but no real relationship in this fan-fiction.

-Restoration – Platypus Caper – Continuation of Divine Intervention. The Eragon/Saphira relationship grows somwhat.

-Inner Fire – Bluefire of ThunderClan – Yet again, _another_ Eragon/Saphira. Short, but good.

-nogarE – FrescaPower – Finally, a non-E/S fan-fiction. A parody of the movie. Funny.

**Well, you have my recommendations. Again, if you have any suggestions on what happens later in the story, please PM them to me.**


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